Third Annabelle Movie From Conjuring Universe Gets Director And Release Date

New Line Cinema continues to build on the Conjuring Universe with a third Annabelle movie coming out in 2019, and the film has found its director. The untitled movie will be helmed by Gary Dauberman, who previously wrote It, Annabelle: Creation, Annabelle, and the upcoming Conjuring spin-off The Nun.

Primarily a writer, this will be Dauberman's directorial debut, and the movie--set to hit theaters July 3, 2019--will once again focus on the creepy doll Annabelle, who is a conduit for demons to possess (via THR). There is no indication as to where this will fit into the Conjuring Universe timeline.

The first Annabelle spin-off took place in 1967 and was a prequel to The Conjuring, and Annabelle: Creation took the audience back to the origin of the haunted doll, which primarily took place in 1955. There is a span of 12 years in between which the movie could follow, or it could jump ahead to the late '70s, with the doll still locked away at the Warrens's house.

Annabelle: Creation was a big success. It made $300 million globally on a $15 million budget according to BoxOfficeMojo. That's a huge win compared to both Conjuring films, which each brought in around $320 million on their own.

Creation received a bit of praise for its acting and developing the Conjuring Universe even further. GameSpot's Mike Rougeau said in his review of Annabelle: Creation, "[It] doesn't quite stand on its own, particularly in its ending. But thanks to solid performances from its adult and child actors, skillful directing, truly terrifying moments that go beyond cheap jump scares, and a self-awareness that many scary movies lack, it teeters at the peak of this ever-expanding world of connected horror, asking you only to jump with it down into the dark."

While we have to wait a year for this third haunted doll movie to come to theaters, the next Conjuring spin-off, The Nun--which is also written by Dauberman--will be hitting a screen near you on September 7.